Rain could affect tonight's game against the Astros at Nationals Park.

Uh-oh, that's not an encouraging sight: The tarp is covering the infield here at Nationals Park, and the forecast is calling for rain showers throughout the afternoon and evening. Tough to say at this point if it'll be bad enough to cause a delay or even a postponement. If the rain continues to fall as lightly as it has all day, they should be OK to play through it.

If and when they do play, Jordan Zimmermann will take the mound for the Nationals, seeking to become the final member of the starting rotation to earn a win. Not that the right-hander hasn't deserved two W's already, having allowed one earned run in seven innings in both of his two starts to date. Unfortunately, Zimmermann has once again been the victim of terrible run support, as was too often the case last year.

Fellow right-hander Lucas Harrell, who has pitched well so far, gets the start for the Astros. It's obviously still early in the season, but the Nationals have a golden opportunity tonight to create some separation between themselves and the rest of the NL East. The Mets already lost to the Braves this afternoon, which means a win tonight would leave the Nats 2 1/2 games up on everyone else in the division.

Someone posted that this wasn't JZim's best effort tonight. Really? One run that was manufactured and under 90 pitches for 7? Sheesh. Seems like the type guy who would be happy with a team win, though.

agree with Wally that zimnn didnt seem as sharp tonight, especially early, and i was at the park. that said, he got the job done. and ramos showed us something there. as did ALR and Worth. also some pretty lame high strike calls from the home plate ump that hurt us. cold night but worth being there, for sure!